Lily
by I am Lily daughter of Demeter
Summary: Lily ran away from home. She meets Kayla, daughter of Ares, and Bobby, a satyr, in New York. They take her to Camp Half-Blood, where she struggles to fit in. This is towards the end of HoO, when the 7 demigods return from Greece.
1. Chapter 1

**From the Author: This is my first fanfic. I've spent the whole week reading other people's work  
but I think I understand everything. Almost everything.  
**

**Anyway, I do not own Camp Half-Blood or any of Rick Riordan's characters.  
**

**Enjoy, and please tell me if I need to change something!  
**

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**Chapter 1: LILY**

Lily was trapped. The alleyway was a dead end, and it was all she could do to blend into the shadows. Her heart was racing uncontrollably, but she tried to calm herself anyway. She desperately wished she could simply melt into the darkness and disappear. Unfortunately, the approaching dark figure had trailed her nonstop since she fled her home in New Jersey.

No matter how hard Lily tried, she could not seem to shake off the _thing_ that was following her. First, she had tried to surround herself with people. She traveled to New York, where that was easy. But the person—or whatever it was—had tracked her through thousands of people to a coffee shop where Lily had stopped for a break. After running away from that, she decided to go to the airport, with both lots of people and women's restrooms. Lily had gone into one bathroom after checking behind her to glimpse the long, black trench coat her pursuer always wore, then quickly left through the other door on the opposite side of the room.

But still, the thing had followed her. Now, it seemed Lily was trapped with no way out. The figure was drawing nearer, and all Lily had to defend herself was a stolen kitchen knife and a crowbar she had found in a junkyard.

Lily had decided earlier on that her mysterious pursuer was a man. The only visible part of his face was his eyes—the rest was covered by a large black hat—but he was large, tall, and walked with a sense of purpose, like a very commanding man.

No matter what gender, it had her cornered and seemed to realize it too. Lily could see the gleam in its eyes as it marched towards her.

Suddenly, the figure stopped. In a deep, raspy voice, it hissed,"I know you are there, Lily Noble. Come to me; I won't harm you."

Yup, definitely a man. Lily pressed her back against the wall and tightened her grip on the crowbar, which hung at her side. She didn't want to give herself away, in case he was bluffing, but she was still on guard.

The man cackled cruelly. It hurt Lily's ears.

"So be it," he said, and drew a curved sword from his long trench coat pocket. It was black and wicked-looking, about the length of Lily's arm.

He closed in and Lily lifted her crowbar in a last effort...

But he never got there. His expression turned to surprise before he disintegrated into a pile of ash. His hat sat alone upon it. It would have been funny, if he had not just tried to run her through with a sword.

Lily sank to the ground and looked up at her savior. A teenage girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, stood with a sword at her side. She had electric blond hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail. She wore an orange faded T-shirt and jean shorts. Her amber eyes were sharp, like a hawk's. The girl helped Lily up.

"Hey, I'm Kayla. Nice to meet you," she said, as if the man had never been there.

"Lily," Lily said quietly. "Thanks for saving me."

"Oh, him? No problem. He takes a long time to come back."

Kayla turned to go out of the alley. "Come with me. There's someone I want you to meet."

Lily had no idea what Kayla was talking about, or how the man could come back. He was dead, wasn't he?

When the two girls reached the street, a boy ran over. He had a navy blue beanie on his head and a green T-shirt that read "Peace to the Earth". He had baggy pants and tattered shoes.

"Kayla! I swear, never do that again or I will—," he cried.

Kayla cut him off. "Never mind! Lily this is my friend Bobby. Bobby, meet Lily."

Lily shook Bobby's hand. He was either very nervous or very hyper, because he kept glancing wildly around and picking at the hem of his shirt.

"Nice to meet you. You had better come with us. I don't like the smell around here," he said.

Everything was happening so fast, Lily thought. And was this kid part dog or something?

Bobby hailed a taxi and ushered Kayla in quickly. He beckoned Lily, who hesitated. She trusted these people, not just because Kayla had saved her, but because they didn't resent her. Lily, who had grown up feeling like she was a burden, liked the way they treated her. She glanced at the alleyway one last time and shuddered, thinking of what would have happened if Kayla hadn't been there. Then, she got into the taxi with two strange people that just might take her somewhere more dangerous than the place she had left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: BOBBY**

From inside the taxi, Bobby scanned the streets for any monsters. He could smell them, he was sure of it. Of course, traveling around with two demigods was a risk, even if one had a sword.

Bobby and Kayla had come from Camp Half-Blood, picking up some prescribed vitamins for Chiron ("When you're three thousand years old, you sometimes need a little boost here and there," he had said.) Chiron was buried in paperwork and mail, so Kayla had volunteered both her and Bobby. Anyway, Bobby had spotted a coffee shop, so, being a satyr, he had naturally stopped for a drink. Kayla had gone off across the street while he was in line, to save Lily.

Usually Bobby only left camp to collect demigods—which, he realized, he was doing anyway—but Kayla had requested him for the errand. The two had struck up a friendship after Bobby had taken her to camp.

During the taxi ride, Kayla had been explaining the cabins and specific people at camp, like Chiron and Argus. Lily seemed to be taking the information well, or maybe she was just too shocked to speak. Kayla then asked her which parent was missing. Lily looked at the ground and mumbled something about definitely having two mortal parents. This made Bobby think that one: she didn't like her parents and might have run away from home; and two: she was a mortal who could see through the Mist, like the current Oracle Rachel.

Kayla caught Bobby's eye. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and kept silent for the rest of the ride.

When they reached the hill, Kayla took out her sword and began to polish it. Lily glanced fearfully at it, which confirmed that the man in the alley was not just a fluke. To most mortals, the sword probably looked like a lacrosse stick or something. Bobby gestured to the pine tree on the crest of Half-Blood Hill.

"That's Thalia's Pine. It protects the camp," Bobby explained.

"Is that a dragon?" Lily asked. She was quiet, so Bobby couldn't decide if she was scared or not.

"Yep, that's Peleus. He guards the Fleece."

"_The_ Fleece?" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah. Do you read mythology?" Kayla asked, surprised. Kayla had almost attacked Peleus when Bobby first introduced her.

"Yeah, I love reading."

Bobby was pretty sure that Lily was 100% mortal now. Most demigods had dyslexia, because their minds were meant for Ancient Greek.

The trio crossed through the boundary, after Kayla had given Lily permission. Bobby had tried to stop her, but it had been too late. Only demigods could enter the camp without permission, so it would have been a good test to see if Lily was mortal or not.

From the high hill, Kayla and Bobby helped each other to point out the different places.

Lily's thirteenth birthday was coming up, and Lily confirmed that no glowing symbol had appeared above her head before, which meant she had yet to be claimed.

"You're probably in Athena. They're all bookworms," Kayla said disdainfully.

"Don't take it personally," Bobby explained quickly, as Lily looked offended. "Ares and Athena don't get along too well."

Kayla sniffed. Bobby gave her a look that said _Knock it off_.

They delivered the vitamins to Chiron, who was in the Big House, and Lily explained her story.

Chiron looked thoughtful. "Well, now that you're here, you should be claimed pretty soon. For now, why don't you go with Bobby on a tour of camp. Kayla, I believe Tony wanted a word with you."

Kayla groaned and quickly left. Bobby led Lily out into the sun. He could understand Kayla's unhappiness. Tony was the temporary head of the Ares cabin, while Clarisse was away. He had a big ego and looked down on basically everyone.

For the rest of the afternoon, he and Lily walked around camp, saying hi to everyone. So far, nothing struck Bobby as being close to Lily. She wasn't a supermodel, especially in her dirty clothes. She had shoulder length dark brown hair and a spray of freckles across her nose and cheek bones. Her eyes were mainly brown, but there was some green on the outside. She wasn't really Aphrodite material, from the way she carried herself and her shyness.

She wasn't bloodthirsty, so probably not Ares. Maybe Athena, because of her love for books. Wait, Bobby thought. She might not even be a demigod. Lily had forgotten to tell Chiron about her two parents. Bobby supposed one parent might have lied, but when he told Lily this, she became very interested in the Greek fire on the front of the Hades cabin and didn't reply.

"So, what do like to do?" Bobby asked. They had stopped at the lake after finishing the tour of the cabins.

"I like reading and animals," Lily said after a moment.

"Well, Athena is wisdom," Bobby said. "But all the gods have different animal symbols."

"I also like nature," Lily offered.

"Demeter is the goddess of farming," Bobby said.

"Yeah, that sounds more like me," Lily said. She then seemed to stop herself from saying something. No more words passed between them until the conch horn sounded for dinner.

"Go on," Bobby said. Lily gave him a quick smile and ran off. Bobby watched as she joined the Hermes cabin line in the pavilion.

Bobby sat for a moment. Who was Lily's godly parent, if she even had one? And why was she so reluctant to talk about her parents?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: LILY**

When it was Lily's turn to approach the fire, she hesitated.

"To, um, everyone, I guess." She slid a thick piece of meat into the fire with her knife.

As she sat down next to Bella, a girl she had met in the Hermes cabin, she noticed one of the Apollo guys looking at her.

"Hey, Bella," Lily said, nudging her. "I think that dude is staring at you."

To Lily's surprise, Bella blushed. Bella had seemed very down-to-earth when Bobby had introduced her to Lily. But here Bella was, blushing like an Aphrodite girl.

Lily grinned at Bella. "I'll leave you to it, then." She stood up and left the hall. She didn't really know where she was going, but she slowly made her way around the cabins.

"Hey, Lily! Wait up!"

Lily had squint through the dying sunlight to see a small boy jogging towards her. But as he got closer, she saw that he had weird furry pants on and...tap shoes, from the sound he was making.

"Yes?"

"I—," he paused to catch his breath. "The name...is CJ. Chiron wants to see you."

"Thanks. By the way, nice pants," Lily said.

CJ looked at her. "Oh," he said after a moment. "You were making a joke. Okay, well, catch ya later!"

He started jogging away from the direction he'd come.

Lily walked to the Big House, wondering how much more strange things could get.

She was about to find out.

When she went to the Big House, Chiron wasn't there. She saw a glow from a little way off. When she got to the glow and stepped into the light, the strangest sight of all met her eyes.

It was a singalong. All the campers were giggling and singing so ridiculously, Lily couldn't make out the words of the song. The fire in the middle of the theater was strangely colored—purple, instead of yellow and orange.

"Ah, Miss Lily. So nice of you to come," Chiron said.

Lily blushed. She was about to go into the stands when everyone suddenly gasped. She froze, thinking she had ripped her pants. Looking desperately around, she caught Bella's eye and she mouthed "Look up."

When Lily looked up, she only caught a glimpse of the image that had been glowing above her head. It was a stalk of wheat. Demeter.

_But I have two parents_, Lily thought.

Katie came down and held up Lily's hand. The Demeter cabin cheered.

"Very good! Okay, sleep well; capture the flag tomorrow!" Chiron turned back to the Big House and the crowd started dispersing Lily walked with Katie into the Demeter cabin. The bunk beds were all neatly arranged, and there were several plants; in corners, on bookshelves, one guy even had half of a pot stuck onto his bed with a plant sticking out.

Katie showed Lily to her bunk, which was above a girl whose name Lily had forgotten. As she was staring around the cabin from her bed, she heard little snatches between Katie and Bo, a husky guy who was actually very nice.

"What if she's no good at fighting, Katie?"

"She'll learn. That's what camp is for."

"But capture the flag—"

"Relax. She's one of the first demigods to come to this cabin since the gods promised to claim their kids, so we're just not used to this. She'll do fine."

Bo didn't look pleased, but he left it alone. Lily climbed down to Katie.

"Can I have a look at the weapons?" she asked.

Katie checked her watch. "It's kind of late."

"Oh, right." Lily felt stupid, but she was desperate to prove her worth.

Katie's expression softened. "Don't worry about Bo. He just is worried that you might get hurt tomorrow."

"In capture the flag?"

"Oh, yeah, capture the flag. We made an alliance with Athena, Hermes, and some of the minor gods. They'll be on our team. Each team hides their flag in the forest and leaves two guards. Then we try to get the other team's flag," Katie explained.

Lily nodded. She had played capture the flag in P.E. in school.

"Good night," Katie said.

Lily pulled the covers over her and lay awake even after the call "Lights out!." Eventually, she slipped into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm really sorry, guys! I know I haven't updated in a month, but I have my reasons! Anyway, here is Chapter 4 of _Lily_. BTW, I don't know if you have to do this every time, but I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR CAMP HALF-BLOOD!**

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**Chapter 4: LILY**

Lily woke up when she felt a mysterious tickling sensation on her neck. She opened her eyes and immediately got whacked in the face by a giant leaf. She sat straight up and smacked her head on the ceiling. _What have I done to deserve this bad luck?_, she thought to herself as she fell back on to her pillow. The first twenty seconds of her day, and she was already supporting a watery eye and a bump on her head. Not a very promising omen.

She crawled to the edge of the bed and looked down.

"Sorry, Lily!" one of her cabin mates called up to her.

Lily didn't hear him. She stared disbelievingly at the thing in front of her. In the middle of the cabin floor was a large pot. But coming out of the pot was the biggest plant Lily had ever seen. The stem was as thick as a tree trunk, and the branches spread across the ceiling when they couldn't go upward anymore. Ten of her cabin mates—or maybe siblings, but she wasn't ready to think like that—stood around the pot waving their hands around like maniacs. When Lily looked closer, she saw that they were actually moving their hands in a synchronized pattern of circles and figure eights. The plant continued to grow steadily.

"Okay, that's enough!" Katie yelled. The other nine stopped moving their hands.

The two other kids who had not participated raised their heads from their pillows at her call. Only Lily had been woken up by the plant itself.

The plant made the cabin feel much more crowded, even though the thirteen kids had fit comfortably the night before.

Katie and the others all lifted their hands high, then brought them down in a blur. The plant shot down into the pot at the speed of their hands. The only part that now stuck out of the dirt was a tiny green curl.

"Good job, guys. We'll be able to use that in capture the flag; I'm sure of it," Katie said. The others seem to deflate a little at that.

"Yeah, right," muttered the boy that had called up to Lily. "We're a joke at capture the flag."

Lily felt bad. She couldn't make this cabin any less of a joke.

"Lily, Maggie, George," Katie said. She glanced at each of them in turn.

"Glad you could join us. Breakfast is very soon."

Maggie and George blinked blearily. Lily, meanwhile, clambered down the ladder.

"Here's your shirt," Katie said, handing an orange shirt to her.

Lily held it up. It had CAMP HALF-BLOOD written on it, and was a size too big.

Katie continued,"I'm afraid I don't have any pants.

"Anyone got pants?!" she yelled over the conversation.

Only Maggie offered. Lily figured that no one else was her size anyway.

"Thank you," Lily said when Maggie handed her a pair of jean shorts. Maggie smiled, blushed, and quickly returned to her bed in the corner.

At breakfast, nothing got better. Lily caught Kayla's eye and smiled. Kayla looked back, but didn't return the grin. She looked away and Lily didn't catch her eye again.

Bobby slid in next to her. "So how are you settling in?"

"Okay," Lily said. "What's up with Kayla?"

Bobby shrugged. "She'll be happy when she's fighting in capture the flag."

Lily looked down at her shorts. Kayla was treating her coldly, and Lily had few friends already. Then something caught her eye. Bobby had on the fuzzy pants! Was that a new fashion trend? Lily had never been considered fashionably "in", but she was pretty sure wearing funny, smelly animal skins was _not_ fashionable.

"Why are you wearing those funny pants?" Lily finally asked.

Bobby looked surprised, then a realization crossed his face, then he started laughing. Lily was offended. How was she supposed to know trends?

"No, no," Bobby said quickly. "I'm a satyr. Half goat, half man. These are my real legs."

He lifted his left leg up to show her.

Lily felt a little foolish, even though she could not have known about satyrs.

"Is CJ a satyr too?" she asked.

"Yeah," Bobby said, lowering his furry leg. "He's my cousin, but we grew up like brothers."

Lily smiled. Of course, all half man mutations could have complex family trees. A modern summer camp can have the Golden Fleece, an immortal centaur can manage a camp, and pigs could fly. She would have to learn to expect the unexpected.

The rest of the day was very...interesting. Lily went around with her cabin, doing assorted activities. The best part was picking the last of the strawberries in the fields and eating them fresh. Then, it was capture the flag time.

Katie tried to help. But the armor was always too heavy, the sword too big, the helmet too large. Finally, Katie gave up.

"Look, Lily. This armor fits the best so let's go with this. The helmet already fits perfectly, you just need to get used to it. The sword...,"she trailed off.

Dozens of swords littered the ground. None had fit right. They had briefly tried daggers, which ended with Lily losing it in her sleeve. They had tried spears, but Lily almost skewered herself on the first one.

"How about this one?" Lily asked.

One sword in the corner stood alone. It's scabbard was bronze with engravings in Ancient Greek. Without Katie's permission, Lily drew the sword. She gasped.

The blade was thinner than most of the others she had tried, and shone with dazzling silver light.

"That one...that one has a very short history. We know nothing about who made it. The girl who brought it to camp d-uh...got sick," Katie said.

Lily was pretty sure Katie was about to say "died". Not the best omen.

"Anyway," Katie continued. "It's name is Chreos. Duty."

**(AN: Confession! Chreos is actually modern Greek and has an accent thingy above the e. It looks like this: ****chréos.)**

Lily studied the blade.

"You know what, why don't we try that one," said Katie, checking her watch.

Lily tied the scabbard to her waist and sheathed the blade. It was time to capture a flag.


End file.
